My Bio and This Blog's Purpose

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Here are my rapid fire responses to the midterms and their impact on passenger rail.West CoastCA: The incoming governor may shift which segments of CAHSR get built next. When it comes to the main opponents of the project, two out of the three are gone—Valadao and Denham lost their House races but McCarthy will become the new House Minority Leader.SouthwestNM: Here’s to hoping that Michelle Lujan Grisham is vastly more pro-rail than her predecessor.MidwestMN: Maybe the second Chicago-Twin Cities frequency will accelerate now.WI: Governor No Train is finally ousted and he lost based on a rule that he created that prevented a recount by a certain margin. Serves him right.IA: Kim Reynolds holding onto the governor’s mansion and soon to be serving a full term means that a Quad Cities-Omaha extension will be off the table for at least another four years.IL: Once the Quad Cities route gets up and running, the question is which route will be next on the agenda. The Black Hawk revival? Rockford service? Something else?OH: Oh dear, Mike DeWine had the most ambiguous position out of the four gubernatorial candidates in regards to transit needs, which may mean the status quo in Columbus.SoutheastAL: Earlier this year, Kay Ivey passed on providing money to reviving the Mobile-New Orleans Gulf Coast Limited route. That seemed to conclude a spat between the governor and the Southern Rail Commission but a couple of weeks later, advocates pressed forward with building a new station in Mobile. Ivey got elected to a full term but is less inclined to even support any type of passenger rail than her predecessor, who at least explored the possibility of a PPP before an impeachment threat forced him to step down.GA: As to what the new governor will do in advancing passenger rail, your guess is as good as mine. If anything, Georgians may be better off hoping that Sir Richard’s venture serves the Atlanta-Charlotte market in the interim.FL: It will be up to the public to push Ron DeSantis to implement a statewide rail system to connect Floridians. Over the past six or so years, region after region has expressed its interest in reviving rail service in some capacity. Now is the time to not only provide a system but to also prove that a state can develop on without Amtrak. Don’t just leave everything to Brightline/Virgin.NC: Roy Cooper can now veto rail-unfriendly legislation, which would be a sigh of relief for mass transit.NortheastCT: We shall see if the new governor is more open to funding the Housatonic and New England Central routes now that the Hartford Line is finally up and running. MA: Conversely, we’ll also see if Charlie Baker and the legislature are able to produce any new routes in the Bay State.ME: Hopefully, the Pine Tree State will move out of its neutral position and develop more routes.

A shortline railroad expressing interest in providing intercity service from northeastern Pennsylvania to New York City

The Return of Sir RichardAlmost eight years after when it looked like Rick Scott--and a rapidly changing environment--had driven Virgin Trains out of the U.S., Sir Richard Branson comes roaring back.I was wondering just how a Virgin Trains USA would look like. Now, I know. Also, in addition to the West Coast pickup, Sir Branson could very well be providing service to the underserved Charlotte-Atlanta market and the completely unserved 3C market in Ohio sooner than anyone thinks.

The New Passenger Paradigm Strikes AgainThere have been times over the last two years where I have wondered if outside forces would stymie Ray Chambers's vision of a new paradigm. As it turns out, things sometimes move slower than advocates for change like.What the rebranding means for Virgin Trains USA: Branson will now lay claim to having a national company. What the rebranding means for the public: For Florida, it means that untapped markets and the previously thought to be dead HSR route will be served while also being a real estate and hospitality entity. For California, it will make it easier for passengers to travel between Los Angeles and Las Vegas--and directly, too. For the Southeast, a high speed alternative to the once-a-day Crescent route along an express route while travelers don't have to put all of their eggs the southeastern states' basket. Virginia and North Carolina have it together for the first portion of the Southeast Corridor lined up. However, the latter's partnership with South Carolina and Georgia is shakier and trying to get additional frequencies on the existing Norfolk Southern route--never mind the CSX route for Raleigh to Jacksonville service--is rife with politics.For Ohio, a chance to start anew after nearly four decades of false promises and a chance to provide an essential service to a part of a state that has been ignored.What the rebranding means for the passenger industry: Three European entities are now in position to rewrite the passenger rail experience in America. DB (Germany) is locked to run Express routes in California, RENFE is going to run Express service in Texas, and the UK's Virgin is providing higher speed rail service to multiple states. Those who fail to adapt will be left by the wayside.

One Big Take: It's nice and all that Amtrak is finally talking about replacing equipment that's nearly a half century old but, the company should have made it is main focus a couple of summers ago instead of replacing Acelas that are less than two decades old. The Southwest Chief situation is yet another reason for the private sector to jump in because Amtrak no longer cares about overnight travelers even though the demand is there. The CMRR is an ominous sign for the Adirondack Scenic Railroad and railroad advocates must be vigilant since the governor of New York is on the side of elitists. It's about time that both cities opened their new stations.

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

An agreement is reached between Florida East Coast management and employees, averting a strike

Point of Departure

1963

Storyline A (Seaboard merges with Southern and the ACL merges with N&W)Amtrak doesn’t serve Florida in 1971 since the three Class I railroads still do. Governor Lawton Chiles chooses corridor service over the high speed Florida Overland Express in 1996, effectively killing future efforts for high speed rail in the state. The Florida Rail System is formed the following year.In 1993, the Norfolk Coast Line interlines its Gulf Wind route with Amtrak to provide true bicoastal service. A dozen years later, Amtrak withdrew its support citing unreliable Union Pacific timekeeping out west.Today’s Likely OutcomeThere are only modest changes to the schedules.

The FEC became a subsidiary of Southern Railway long before the 1970s in the same way the LIRR is a subsidiary of the ACL (the FEC route officially became a Southern route in 1992). In 1997, Congress responded to growing state interest in corridor service by transferring routes that are less than 500 miles long to the states. It was at this point that the former FEC routes were handed over to the FL DOT. Eleven years later, Congress increased the corridor length to 750 miles in response to interstate pacts.Today’s Likely OutcomeEast Coast service is increased alongside Southern’s presence in Florida. There are two overnight frequencies along the route. Due to the increase in intrastate service, the railroads alter their schedules so that certain trains provide overnight service in Florida

Storyline C (the SCL holds out of joining Amtrak)The Southeast Rail Coalition was formed in the late 1980s to expand passenger rail in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida so passengers have more daytime options. FEC rebranded its overnight routes in 2001 as a premium, all-sleeper service. A few years later, other Class I railroads were so envious of CSX’s success that they got Congress to pass a provision in PRIIA that allows intercity competition against Amtrak.The Miami Intermodal Center opened ten years ago and continues to serve Amtrak, CSX and FL DOT passenger trains.Today’s Likely OutcomeAmtrak’s frequency remains as is, CSX promotes several routes to year-round status, the FEC has added another roundtrip, and the FL DOT system continues its expansion.

Storyline D (the FEC competes with Amtrak for Jacksonville-Miami passengers)

Throughout the 1970s, the FEC was very leery of interlining with Amtrak due to there being no other private railroads available. In the mid to late 1980s, FEC agreed to allow commuter service in South Florida as I-95 is being widened. About a decade later, Tri-Rail’s service between downtown Miami and Jupiter intrigues state officials so much that it explores similar service along the CSX route. The result was the 1998 launch of Amtrak Florida. With double decker cars in tow, the first routes the state launched were Orlando-Miami and Tampa-Miami. The state extended service to Jacksonville in 2000 along both the A and S Lines. A daytime Jacksonville-Pensacola route was launched in 2005, months before Hurricane Katrina suspended Sunset Limited service east of New Orleans.At the turn of the millennium, Amtrak targeted Southwest Florida as a part of its short-lived Mail & Express expansion plan. In late 2004, the national carrier decided to pull out of the Tampa market rather than the S-Line once it terminated carrying mail (the Silver Star is put back on the route once the Palmetto is cut back to Savannah). Sunrail launched service in 2006 without any difficulties.In the fall of 2011, FL DOT objected to the Section 209 PRIIA provisions and terminated its agreement with Amtrak two years later (this move made Indiana the second state to hold out of the PRIIA standards), opting to contract with Sunrail operator Bombardier at the beginning of 2014.The FEC did a massive rebranding campaign in 2012: Local stops service became Coastal, night service became the Owl, and a new limited stop service was originally named All Aboard Florida (now known as Brightline) in advance of expansion to Tampa. Today’s Likely OutcomeThe FEC opened new stations in Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale in 2014 with Miami Central replacing the old downtown location the following year. Service to Orlando Airport began two years ago while the extension to Tampa opened in time for the Memorial Day weekend last month. FEC now has over 40 frequencies around the clock as a result of the rebranding and expansion.Divorcing itself from Amtrak has paid the FL DOT huge dividends as it rebranded the rail service as FLORail, added new frequencies, expanded to new cities, acquired new equipment, and taken over certain stations previously neglected by Amtrak. FLORail trains also serve the historic station in Jacksonville and the Miami Airport Station. The former was the result of FL DOT’s vision to relocate corridor trains and the latter happened because the state wanted to make things easier for airport travelers. One of FLORail’s biggest hits is the Panhandle route (a feasibility study on extending service to New Orleans is underway). Southwest Florida service to Venice and Naples is also in the works. As for Amtrak? Having its role reduced to being a bit player in the state, it decided to end service to smaller cities and to limit its southbound stops to discharge only and its northbound stops to receive only so no one can travel locally within Florida on Amtrak any more.

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Take #1: The decision goes back to what I said in 2012: A lack of creativity drove this move. There should be multiple stations in the Petersburg area. Yes, the Ettrick station is outdated, but the answer is not to restrict its replacement to one area especially when future east-west service would be best served by a downtown station.

Take #2: The Colonial Heights move does in fact have racial undertones to it. Plus, Colonial Heights residents don't even want the new station in the first place! You just gotta love government bureaucracy.

Take #3: Isn't this the same FRA that decided to place the southern terminus of the Dallas-Houston HSR route in Northwest Houston instead of downtown two years ago? Go figure.

Take #2: Maybe, states like California should take the logical next step by ending its relationship with the national carrier.

When a station loses its staff
A first hand look at Cincinnati going from a staffed station to an unstaffed station.

Take: There's a lot of blame to go around. First, ex-CEO Joseph Boardman for not standing up to CSX when it was time to convert the Cardinal to a daily train. Second, Congress for not enforcing competition provisions in the 2008 and 2015 laws. Third, pencil pushers among Amtrak management who thought that destaffing stations was a good idea.

So, for all those people who are still defending the loss of ticket agents and checked baggage: WAKE UP!

Consequently, it has become the greatest of ironies that the passenger train, which was purported to be saved by Amtrak, now has to be saved from Amtrak. Daniel Carleton, This Week at Amtrak 9/8/11

It is clear that Amtrak is no longer the tool to keep passenger trains going in the United States. Over the last several months, "America's Railroad" has made the passenger experience more and more unpleasant. M.E. Singer lays out why Amtrak's woes are institutional rather than financial.

Boardman's rebuttal to Anderson's cuts

So, the former CEO has issues with what the current one is doing and even a onetime Boardman critic has backed him.The problem with all of the Boardman praise is that he's the one who started the cutbacks at Amtrak in the first place. In 2015, the first series of station destaffings occurred when nobody was even talking about the idea of Boardman retiring. On top of that, he imposed airline-like baggage policies and began the process for shutting down Quik-Trak ticket machines--a process that has been delayed to 2019. The worst part of the Boardman Era was the fact that he squandered a golden opportunity to make passenger trains thrive in this country.

It didn't have to be this way

It is ironic and perverse, that our greatest hope for high speed rail is to not destroy or eliminate, but to force Amtrak to competitively bid on services with other prospective providers. Transit Sleuth responding to me, 11/8/11

Never mind high speed rail, we can't even get Congress or the President to force Amtrak to bid for long distance or state-supported routes as not one but two rail re-authorizations mandate the organization to.Let's face it, Sections 209 and 214 of PRIIA and the FAST Act should have been enforced by Congress. If that had happened, then Brightline's amenities would have been the norm rather than the exception.European countries are introducing competition with little resistance outside of France and Finland and yet it's a dirty word here. The status quo cannot be allowed to continue because after 47 years, the pendulum has swung back in favor of expanded passenger service. It's Amtrak management that has resisted expansion outside of the Northeast.

The bulk of the rail community: Just as bad as the Amtrak Board

I would take the status quo compared to the damage the Republicans are about to inflict.

That is a paraphrase of a quote that I saw on a transit forum after the Tea Party fused 2010 midterm wave. That quote is exactly the attitude the bulk of railfans have exhibited over the last seven years. By acting as though Amtrak is the be all end all to U.S. passenger passenger rail and ignoring others who want to shake up the industry, this batch of rent seekers in the railfan community has done everyone a grave disservice.By going all in with Amtrak, here are the ways that most in the rail community are worse than useless:

They added nothing of substance when states were ironing out Section 209 requirements and they were just as silent as 18 of the 19 state agencies (the Capitol Corridor split from Caltrans earlier this decade) who never even explored the idea of selecting another operator

I saw with my very eyes as these rent seekers and True Believers threw a major hissy fit at the one state agency that did pick someone else (Corridor Capital in mid-2014) as a contractor, were gleeful when that bid fell apart (fall '14), threw another fit when another entity (Iowa Pacific) was selected as the contractor, and finally celebrated the day the Hoosier State reverted back to full Amtrak control after the private contractor pointed out that the raw deal it got

Friday, April 6, 2018

Tunneling the HudsonIt's really about the Gateway Project vs AIRNet-21Take #1: Amidst all the talk over funding new tunnels underneath the Hudson River, most people are ignoring the latter solution to the nation's peril.Take #2: Of course, Gateway is the wrong way to go. The reason? It forces Amtrak to spend countless billions while the rest of the system suffers. Also, other states may be more willing to look elsewhere if "America's Railroad" becomes Northeast Railroad.Rockland updateAmtrak won't be running service along the old Maine Eastern route this summer after all.Take: Oops.New year, new president, same old hostility towards passengers 1. Stations continue to lose staffing, checked baggage, and ticket sales2. Business Class will be discontinued on the Auto Train and the Crescent on May 13. Eliminating other amenities systemwide4. Outlawing private carsTake #1: It clearly doesn't matter who's in charge of Amtrak--Boardman, Moorman, Anderson--because it's the management team and/or the Amtrak Board that's cutting back on these things.Take #2: Business Class "failed" on Trains #19, #20, #52 & #53 because management wanted it to fail. The buffer between Coach and Sleeper was not marketed properly so it's going away after only two years.Take #3: So, as Brightline is operating its route at brand new stations and offering all kinds of goodies to South Floridians, Amtrak wants to cut back like it's the late 1960s Southern Pacific. Way to go, guys. At this point, Washington needs to do an intervention by handing the long distance routes and all state supported routes outside of the NEC and the Chicago Hub to AIPRO members.Take #4: A lot has been said about the ban of private cars, so I'll just say this: Losing out on revenue is the ultimate cutting of one's nose to spite his face.Take #5: With the way things are going with Amtrak trying to become Greyhound on the rails--we're past the point of the company acting like an airline--it wouldn't surprise me that a certain segment of railfans would rather see Amtrak reduced to next to nothing than letting other operators succeed with enhanced amenities and overall improved customer service.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Last month's crash in Lakewood, WA has sparked a rash of overreactions nationally and a bunch of unnecessary "I-told-you-sos" from locals.

Let's Get Something Out of the Way

First off, the reroute was not a mistake, it was something that the state thought out in advance. As scenic as the Point Defiance route was, it was also single track.Second, the blame for what happened last month can be attributed of a deficient safety culture inside Amtrak.

The PTC Bug

Certain members of Congress have urged the UDSOT to make December 31 a hard deadline for all railroads to install Positive Train Control (under the 2015 law, extensions to the end of 2020 will only be granted under certain circumstances).

I find this to be a bit of pretentious grandstanding by Congress since it created the problem by overreacting to another tragedy! For those unaware, the tragedy that sparked PTC in the first place was the Chatsworth disaster in 2008. The problem with the way it was implemented was that Congress told every railroad that it not only had to install the device but that said railroads would have to pay out of their own pockets. That demand reflects just how much of an anti-government attitude Washington has had since 1981. If Congress had taken the lead, it would have footed the bill instead.